Witness
by Jaygirl95
Summary: Jules watched them for the moment, studying them. They were both unhealthily skinny, much like herself. Their clothes were covered in dirt and from what she could see of their skin, they were bruised and beaten. Just like her.


**Witness**

_Chapter o1 - Just Like Her_

_Most people fear the unknown. They are afraid of anything they do not know. They despise those different from them. When they breed they teach the same rubbish to their children. Although innocent, unaware of what is being embedded in their minds, most do not question the methods of their parent's ways. Especially not those of the wealthy._

_In some ways I pity those children. To live life with no choice, hand fed the ways of their society and how they're supposed to act - kicking and picking at those already far too gone into the dirt. They never experience the raw emotion of what it's like to be fighting for your life. Your first steal at a peace of bread, feeling the rocks cascade against your back by the hands of the baker you'd taken it from as you make off with your prize._

_Your prize for being the dirt of society. It was this prize that drove most of us to make the decisions we did. It was these choices that led us together in the end._

Dawn.

The start of another day. Another day spent stealing and scavenging the streets of London. Yet Jules had grown into this life. After being separated from her parents, forced into cruel, harsh labor, inevitably running away, she'd adapted to this life. Though she was hungry and forced to find shelters in abandoned places - crypts, mansions, shacks and the occasional castle when she ventured down by the ocean - she'd shimmed into this life.

Jules moves from the odd position she was sleeping in, upside down, legs gripping onto the top railing of the stairs. She found that in her own mind it was more secure to sleep this way. Up off the floor she was safe from any wanderers, hidden from immediate sight (but of course she would ignore the fact it would be a very rude awakening if she were to fall from her perch and to land on the ground, possibly injuring her cranium or breaking a bone).

Digressing from her less than normal sleeping habits Jules slips down, flipping to land on her feet. She heaves a lazy yawn as she shuffles out of the mansion she'd found abandoned near a port. It was dreary to sleep in such daunting places, alone none the less, but it was another aspect to her lifestyle.

Moving out of the mansion, she squints, cursing the sun as it invades her vision. "Damn bloody sun..." she hissed, detering her eyes from the rays of the golden orb and instead taking to the trees, following along next to the path that led into town. She kept hidden aomgst the trees, keeping low to the ground as she slunk through the foilage. Many nobles went out riding along the trail at this time of day. Normally she'd take what she could while they left their horses unattended down by the beach but today she just wasn't in the mood for the chance of being caught and possibly beaten.

So she'd settle for scavenging in the town up ahead as she did on every other day.

Up in the town she looks about. Nothing had changed. Still the same grovel, children crying in the streets, hiding in alleys, couples arguing. The filth and chaos was the same every day.

"There must be more than this..." a sigh.

Jules was accostumed to her life as a vulture, but her imagination held no bounds even as a child. She wanted to travel, to go to Paris, China. The girl wanted to experience the sights and sounds of this world because surely-

"Surely life stretches beyond this place..." it was a broken plea, something that was so far out of reach but still she stretched out, grasping for this dream that was keeping her afloat.

Jules looks around herself. It was early morning and as such shopkeepers and merchants were just now getting themselves together. Some had shops, others set up outside. It was the open stands in the marketplace that were easier to steal from, but on occasion Jules would chance herself and sneak into the shops when backs were about-faced from their duties. The blond girl quickly shifts past the open stands, swiping an apple as the merchant managing it averted his gaze for the moment, observing potential customers.

Until out of his range of vision she kept her hand hidden in her dark, tattered cloak, stealing a bite of the fruit once she had the chance. The keepers ahead were more mindful of her this day, she noticed. Had they perhaps begun catching onto her? It was likely.

_Perhaps it's time for me to change cities then... hmm?_

A sudden crash, loud yelling. Then she heard it, painful yelps as stones rebounded off of weak bodies.

"Get out of here you creepy little urchins!" it was the baker at the tip of the corner ahead. He was in a fit of madness pelting two boys with the stones on the ground. Jules wasted no time in acting, racing towards the scene. The girl hopped onto one foot, slamming her leg into the side of the man and knocking him off balance for the moment. She moves over to the boys swiftly, cloak falling about their backs in a defensive way.

"Move!" sharply she urges them, moving in step with them as they take refuge in an alley on another street. Jules moves, crouching down and pulling the boys close to her. Her hands fall about their heads, trying to quell their quivering bodies as the baker yells for them to come out. He rages closely to the alley and she feels the way the boys move closer to her, stifling their gasps. The small one with the yellow hair even begins gripping onto her shirt in fear.

Jules own heart was in her throat, beating rapidly. If it had just been her she would have felt no fear, knowing she could get away. But she'd taken these boys in her care for the moment.

For the moment she was vulnerable. Sweat collecting on her forehead the closer the baker grew to their hiding place.

_Don't come here._

_Don't come here._

_Don't come here._

_Don't come here._

The baker was looking into their alley now. What would she do?

Should she run?

What about the boys? They were even weaker then she was, choking back whimpers as the baker stared into the darkness they were hiding in, beginning to step in.

_Shit._

They'd been caught. For sure they'd been caught.

Suddenly the baker huffs a grunt of agitation and turns to leave. "Come out you dirty street rats! I'll find you! I'll bloody find you!"

_Is he blind..?_

It seemed they were safe this time.

Jules lets a sigh slip past her lips as the bakers voice dissipates off in the distance, screeches becoming nothing more than dim shouting, almost a whisper at the distance he was at now. With the insane baker gone Jules notices the way the younger one was now freely sobbing, clutching onto the fabric of her shirt while the other seemed to breathing in relief, wiping the slight formations of tears from his eyes.

"Shh, little one. He's gone now. He won't harm you" Jules speaks softly to the child, fingers sifting through his golden hair in reassurance, ruffling the strands of hair that fell about his head.

"You guys must be hungry if you were stealing from that old man, he's bloody murderous, he is" Jules chuckles, trying to make light of the terrifying situation they'd all just encountered. The girl pulls the apple from her pocket, pulling out generous pieces of the fruit and handing it off to the males she'd rescued. "Here eat, you'll feel better" and she smiled as they indulged in her offer.

The little one nibbled on his portion much like a hamster or rabbit would while the older, who sported shaggy, black locks, inspected his for a moment before deciding that it was good enough to eat. Jules watched them for the moment, studying them. They were both unhealthily skinny, much like herself. Their clothes were covered in dirt and from what she could see of their skin they were bruised and beaten.

Just like her.

"I'm Jules, who are you?"

"V-Vincent..."

"I'm Gilbert.."

They were just like her. 


End file.
